In the West Haven School System, the Middle
School Art Curriculum is designed as a “sampler” series of learning
experiences that encompass the Connecticut Art Standards and correlate
to the developmental stages of the students. The “sampler” experience
starts with elementary skills and builds in difficulty and expectations
as the art experience progresses from 6th to 7th to 8th grade.

Visual Arts Education in the Middle School is a
spatial art form that satisfies the human need to respond to life
experiences through images, structures and tactile works. Knowledge of
the Connecticut Arts Curriculum Framework for the Visual Arts Standards
incorporates carefully developed and integrated components:

application of problem solving skills.

comprehension and application of the creative process

development and practice of creative thinking skills

development of verbal and non-verbal communication skills

application of technical skills in practical production

practice in the understanding of basic symbol systems and abstract concepts.

6th, 7th, 8th Grade Art

Duration: One (1) School Year, skills build per grade level

Concepts:

Eye - Brain - Hand Coordination

Perception

Color Theory/Painting

Elements of Art/ Principals of Design

Drawing/ Creative Problem Solving

Sculpting/Hand building

Mixed Media/Crafts

Art History

Computer/Digital Art

Examples:

Observational Drawing

Water Coloring Painting

Abstract Painting

Color Scheme Tempera Painting

Ceramic Sculpture

Calligraphy

Print making

Self Portraits

Mixed Media Work

Graphic Design

Perspective

Art History

Cultural Symbols

Lettering

Paper Mache Sculpture

West Haven Middle School Art Curriculum Sampler

Title of Program: Middle School Art Sampler

Description of Course: Middle School
Students will understand and apply the Elements of Art and Principals of
Design through a variety of media and techniques. Students will build
upon prior knowledge with an emphasis placed on understanding and
appreciating the influence of art through history, cultures, modern
consumer products and daily life.

State Content Standards:

Students will:

understand, select and apply media, techniques and processes. (Media)

understand and apply elements and organizational principals of art. (Elements and Principals)

consider, select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas. (Content)

Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures. (History and Cultures)

reflect upon, describe, analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and other’s work.

(Analysis, Interpretation and Evaluation)

Students will make connections between the visual arts, other disciplines and daily life. (Connections)

Essential Questions:

How do visual artists use media to convey ideas?

How do visual artists organize art elements to convey ideas?

How do visual artists select and present subject matter, symbols and ideas?

What are the similarities and differences of visual art among cultures and across time?

identify symbolic meanings found in historic/modern and personal artwork.

identify artwork from three different cultures and at least three different artists.

reflect upon, identify, describe, analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and other’s work.

explain choices made regarding media,
technique, form, themes and subject matter that communicate the artist’s
philosophy within a work of art.

describe styles of works in the arts comparing similar and contrasting characteristics.

investigate and communicate multiple philosophical views about works of art.

understand that people create art to express
thoughts, feelings and ideas; to make money; to make their environment
pleasing; to record history; to tell a story and make the connection
that math, writing, reading and problem solving are connected to the
visual arts.

Middle School Art Course Outline/Syllabus:

I. Media

a. Design/Composition

b. Painting/Print making

c. Drawing

d. Sculpture/Hand building

e. Crafts/Mixed Media

f. Digital/Computer Art

II. Elements of Art

a. line

b. shape

c. color

d. value

e. form

f. texture

g. space

III. Principals of Design

a. unity

b. rhythm

c. pattern

d. movement

e. emphasis

f. contrast

g. balance

IV. Symbolism

V. Art History

a. artists

b. cultures

VI. Assessing Art

a. reflect

b. describe

c. analyze

d. interpret

e. evaluate

VII. Purpose of Art

a. connect art and daily life

b. connect art and other disciplines

These goals are on a continuum basis. Since
students come from various schools, there is no need to review basic
skills. A foundation is presented in Grade 6 and reinforced and expanded
upon in grades 7 and 8. Since there is more fine motor control with
age, projects are more complex and elaborate with additional tools and
techniques.

Connecticut Art Standards

Visual Arts

1. Media:

Students will understand, select and apply media, techniques and processes.

1.1 select media, techniques and processes to communicate ideas, reflect on their choices and analyze what makes them effective

1.2 improve the communication of their own
ideas by effectively using the characteristics of a variety of
traditional and contemporary art media, techniques and processes
(two-dimensional and three-dimensional, including media/technology)

1.3 use different media, techniques and
processes (two-dimensional and three-dimensional, including
media/technology) to communicate ideas, feelings, experiences and
stories.

2. Elements and Principals:

Students will understand and apply elements and organizational principals of art.

2.1 use ways of arranging visual characteristics and reflect upon what makes them effective in conveying ideas

2.2 recognize and reflect on the effects of arranging visual characteristics in their own and other’s work

2.3 select and use the elements of art and principals of design to improve communication of their idea

3. Content:

Students will consider, select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.

3.1 consider, select from and apply a variety of sources for art content in order to communicate intended meaning

3.2 consider and compare the sources for subject matter, symbols and ideas in their own and other’s work

4. History and Cultures:

Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.

4.1 know and compare the characteristics and
purposes of works of art representing various cultures, historic periods
and artists

4.2 describe and place a variety of specific significant art objects by artist, style and historical and cultural context

4.3 analyze, describe and demonstrate how
factors of time and place (such as climate, natural resources, ideas and
technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and
value to a work of art

5. Analysis, Interpretation and Evaluation:

Students will reflect upon, describe, analyze, interpret and evaluate their own and other’s work.

5.1 compare and contrast purposes for creating works of art

5.2 describe and analyze visual characteristics of works of art using visual art terminology

5.3 compare a variety of individual responses
to, and interpretations of, their own works of art and those from
various eras and cultures

5.4 describe their own responses to, and interpretations of, specific works

5.5 reflect on and evaluate the quality and
effectiveness of their own and others’ work using specific criteria
(e.g., technique, formal and expressive qualities, content)

5.6 describe/analyze their own artistic growth over time in relation to specific criteria

6. Connections:

Students will make connections between the visual arts, other disciplines and daily life.

6.1 compare the characteristics of works in
the visual arts and other art forms that share similar subject matter,
themes, purposes, historic periods or cultural context

6.2 describe ways in which the principles and
subject matter of the visual arts and other disciplines taught in school
are inter-related

6.3 combine the visual arts with another art form to create coherent multimedia work

6.4 apply visual arts knowledge and skills to solve problems common in daily life

6.5 identify various careers that are available to artists

West Haven Middle School Art Bibliography

Key Materials: This is a compilation of personal resources used by the Middle School Art Educators in their program.

1. The arts teach children to make
good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the
curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail in the arts, it is
judgment rather than rules that prevail.

2. The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.

3. The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

4. The arts teach children that in
complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed but change
with circumstances and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the
ability and the willingness to surrender to the unanticipated
possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

5. The arts make vivid the fact
that neither words in their literal form nor number exhaust what we can
know. The limits of out language do not define the limits of our
cognition.

6. The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic subtleties.

7. The arts teach students to think
through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through
which images become real.

8. The arts help children learn to
say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a
work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic
capacities to find the words that will do the job.

9.The arts enable us to have
experience we can have from no other source and through such experience
to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

10. The arts’ position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.